To mark Sri Lankan legend Lasith Malinga’s 35th birthday, we look back at the two hat-tricks which marked his place in World Cup history.
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There have been 44 hat-tricks taken since the first ODI back in 1971, with nine coming at the ICC Cricket World Cup.
Impressively, one man has managed to get his name in the World Cup record books on two occasions for claiming three wickets in-a-row; hat-trick king Lasith Malinga.
Not only is Malinga the sole person to take more than one hat-trick at the World Cup, he is the only player in history to take three hat-tricks in one-day internationals.
To mark the Sri Lankan legend’s 35th birthday today, we look back at the two hat-tricks which marked his place in World Cup history.
Sri Lanka v South Africa (2007)
If three wasn’t enough, Malinga went one better than all those before him against South Africa in 2007, taking four wickets in-a-row to almost lead Sri Lanka to a famous win.
South Africa needed just four runs with five wickets remaining before Malinga’s brutal spell began.
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He outfoxed Shaun Pollock with a slower ball and achieved the same result the next ball as Andrew Hall lobbed another slower ball to cover.
He had to wait until the first ball of his next over to complete the hat-trick, getting Jacques Kallis caught behind for 86.
Malinga made it four in four when he clean bowled Makhaya Ntini, but couldn’t stop South Africa reaching their target with a wicket to spare.
Sri Lanka v Kenya (2011)
Kenya fell to Malinga’s magic in 2011 as he became the first person to take two Cricket World Cup hat-tricks.
Like his previous effort, Malinga’s hat-trick was spread across two separate overs. His first victim was Tanmay Mishra, trapped lbw on the final ball of his seventh over.
He then bowled two almost identical deliveries at the start of his eighth over to clean up both Peter Ongondo and Shem Ngoche and seal his second Cricket World Cup hat-trick.
